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I think you are still wrong. The T400s has DisplayPort (a digital video output) in many models, and at least six individual models (NSDD5##, NSDD9##, NSF25##, NSF2P##, NSF2Q##, NSF4N##; replace ## with region code) have both eSATA and DisplayPort connectors.

Additionally, almost all models produced in the last few years have a docking station with DVI connector.

Furthermore, Lenovo produces what its customers (not end-users, mind you) order. And there are several large customers who insist that certain aspects of hardware remain unchanged.

I am not sure why you bring up ONE model of the Thinkpad line. Also, DisplayPort?!? Why are you trying to kid? The digital video port on laptops nowadays are HDMI unless you want to be completely proprietary and call yourself Apple: then you use MiniDisplayPort or whatever they call it.

Who wants even more hardware to add to their laptop? I realize that you might need a DVI to HDMI adapter but I wonder how easy it is to find adapters for DisplayPorts or docking stations. Ebay?

I know Thinkpads have a good reputation and probably sell a lot on name recognition alone. But, Lenovo did poorly on a/the laptop reliability survey and don't have much in the way of options. You are stuck getting an ATI card practically down the entire model line (well, Thinkpads) and the rigid keyboards that impressed Thinkpad and even other notebook owners is gone now. Lenovo notebooks are said to be like other ones but I'm only speculating. I think it's good for one brand to mostly have 'business-line' notebooks but I don't think they're the same company anymore.

If you want to connect consumer electronics to your notebook, then HDMI is most useful despite its limitation to 1080p. That is why the cheaper SL series have a HDMI connector.

For professional computers, DisplayPort is what OEMs want. Professional monitors (EIZO, large Dell and Apple, Lenovo) now come with DisplayPort connectors.

Your assertion that the ThinkPad keyboard is worse than before I cannot confirm with T-Series. If you do a Google search for T400s review, I find noneofthereviews on the first page of results complaining about the keyboard.

Your other claim that you get only ATI is also wrong, with SL500 and W700 Series you can get NVidia GeForce and Quadro.

DisplayPort is what THE INDUSTRY wanted to move to but no such luck as electronics manufacturers stopping moving towards that when the public didn't pick up the technology. OEMs want it?

You are illustrating by naming a couple of models. The T400s is fairly recent and one model. Of the entire line of Lenovo, one or two models have Nvidia. Not sure the SL series is really considered a Thinkpad by Thinkpad enthusiasts.

Originally Posted by chithanh

Stop moving the goalposts.

If you want to connect consumer electronics to your notebook, then HDMI is most useful despite its limitation to 1080p. That is why the cheaper SL series have a HDMI connector.

For professional computers, DisplayPort is what OEMs want. Professional monitors (EIZO, large Dell and Apple, Lenovo) now come with DisplayPort connectors.

Your assertion that the ThinkPad keyboard is worse than before I cannot confirm with T-Series. If you do a Google search for T400s review, I find noneofthereviews on the first page of results complaining about the keyboard.

Your other claim that you get only ATI is also wrong, with SL500 and W700 Series you can get NVidia GeForce and Quadro.

Now I need both good gaming performance under Windows 7 and full graphics support under 64bit Linux.

OpenCL if I'm not much mistaken is supported by Intel CPUs right ? AMD Released an x86 driver for OpenCL. If it works as it should, the fact that the GPUs don't support them is not much of a concern since I only want to *learn* and start *coding* with OpenCL, and not actually use it for performance.

Which laptop should I go for ?

And please gimme some pointers as to which is more reliable. I need it to last till 2013.

A few things:
- Windows drivers are always outdated in Lenovo Ideapads as opposed to Thinkpads. Noone cares about software support.
- All Ideapads (according to people from the Ideapad forums) have virtualization (Intel VT) turned off in BIOS, despite the processor being capable. I bought my laptop with that processor specificly, because I'm doing alot of virtualization. The VT switch in the BIOS menu is hidden, because the Lenovo guys decided it's a consumer laptop. You can still turn it on, as I did, by dumping your BIOS, changing one bit (and the checksum) and reflashing it.
- Ideapads have a totally different ACPI/firmware/whatever from the normal Thinkpads or Thinkpad SLs. My laptop support HSDPA, accelerometers to park HDD heads when the laptop moves, but it's totally different from the one in the Thinkpads. thinkpad_acpi also won't work.
- For Linux, Ideapad sucks. Really. You won't be able to turn off the Bluetooth adapter, the webcam or any thing which requires an additional kernel module. Noone yet made any inroads towards it.
- The batteries suck, although this my only be an issue with tthe U330. Thankfully mine is ok, but other people in the Lenovo forums reported 50% capacity degradation within 9 months.

After much tweaking I've been able to make it work decently with Linux and fill my needs. If I knew I'd need that much tweaking, I would have never bought it in the first place.

A few things:
- Windows drivers are always outdated in Lenovo Ideapads as opposed to Thinkpads. Noone cares about software support.
- All Ideapads (according to people from the Ideapad forums) have virtualization (Intel VT) turned off in BIOS, despite the processor being capable. I bought my laptop with that processor specificly, because I'm doing alot of virtualization. The VT switch in the BIOS menu is hidden, because the Lenovo guys decided it's a consumer laptop. You can still turn it on, as I did, by dumping your BIOS, changing one bit (and the checksum) and reflashing it.
- Ideapads have a totally different ACPI/firmware/whatever from the normal Thinkpads or Thinkpad SLs. My laptop support HSDPA, accelerometers to park HDD heads when the laptop moves, but it's totally different from the one in the Thinkpads. thinkpad_acpi also won't work.
- For Linux, Ideapad sucks. Really. You won't be able to turn off the Bluetooth adapter, the webcam or any thing which requires an additional kernel module. Noone yet made any inroads towards it.
- The batteries suck, although this my only be an issue with tthe U330. Thankfully mine is ok, but other people in the Lenovo forums reported 50% capacity degradation within 9 months.

After much tweaking I've been able to make it work decently with Linux and fill my needs. If I knew I'd need that much tweaking, I would have never bought it in the first place.

Question is, then, how hard is it to turn on VT with other laptops.

It's good to hear about the various experiences. I was considering Ideapads but the 550 and 650. However, there was a spec that wasn't offered that I wanted or something like that. But, it's quite bad that Lenovo, despite a good idea, didn't fully realize the potential of that series and that the machine has some major issues.

I've had very good experience with the business lines from Dell and HP. My Dell D830, especially, is one of the best machines I've ever used. Excellent keyboard, monitor (15.4'', 1680x1050, PVA panel), good processor with VT, Nvidia GPU (Quadro NVS135M, rather slow but feature-full) and an amazing >3.5h battery life. The only downsides are the weight and the fact that the battery died after ~2 years.